Trump says he doesn't know if aliens are real but directs government to release files on UFOs, more

"Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, "I don't know if they're real or not," and said of Obama, "I may get him out of trouble by declassifying." In a post on his social media platform Thursday night, Trump said he was directing government agencies to release files related "to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.""

"Trump made the announcement in a social media post hours after he accused former President Barack Obama of disclosing "classified information" when Obama recently suggested in a podcast interview that aliens were real. Obama, who made his comments in a podcast appearance over the weekend, later clarified that he had not seen evidence that aliens "have made contact with us," but said, "statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there.""

"Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump suggested this week that he was ready to speak about it, however, when she said on a podcast that the president had a speech prepared to deliver on aliens that he would give at the "right time." That was news to the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded with a laugh when she was asked about it Wednesday and told reporters, "A speech on aliens would be news to me.""

President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon and other government agencies to identify and release files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). He announced the directive in a social media post and told reporters aboard Air Force One that he did not know whether extraterrestrials are real. Trump accused former President Barack Obama of disclosing "classified information" after Obama suggested on a podcast that aliens might exist and said he might "get him out of trouble by declassifying." Obama later said he had not seen evidence of contact but noted the odds of life elsewhere are high. A claim that the president had a prepared speech drew a White House response saying such a speech would "be news to me."

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles